The SC had last month issued contempt of court notice while taking up petitions filed by anchorperson Shahzeb Khanzada, Independent Media Corporation (Pvt) Ltd, Mir Ibrahim-ur-Rehman and Najam Aziz Sethi accusing Hussain of flouting the March 28, 2017 restraining order in which he was cautioned to desist from defamatory campaigns and unethical manner of conducting television shows.

A number of clips of Hussain's television programmes were played in the courtroom today, with the CJP rhetorically asking: "Are we [the court] sitting here to be humiliated?"

"One cannot go about apologising after committing contempt of court," Justice Nisar observed. He questioned whether a lawmaker can remain a member of National Assembly after being indicted in a contempt case.